Filing-cabinet.



A. MARTIN.

FILING CABINET.

APPLIOATION FILED M1115, 1912.

Patented Jan. 12, 1915.

UNITED STATES riicraisir4 onriciz.

ARTHUR MARTIN, or CLEVELAND, omo, AssIGNoR To THE VAN DonN IRON WORKS,

OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A. CORPORATION OF OHIO.

FILING-CABINET.

t Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jani. 12, l1915.

Original application iled April 14, 1911, Serial No. 620,974. Divided and this application filed April 15,

1912. Serial No. 690,694.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR MARTIN, a

`citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio,rhave invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Filing-Cabinets, of which the 4following is a full, clear,

44and exact description.

This invention relates to filing cabinets and especially to certain improvements in a compressor for such cabinets which-may be arranged transversely of a drawer and is adapted tobe adjusted-lengthwise thereof to increase or decrease the effective filing space.

' The .present application is a division of my prior application Serial No. 620,974, iiled April 14th, 1911, for filing cabinets.

One of the objects of my inventionis to provide a compressorv which can be locked or released and adjusted very easily and quickly and regardless of its'position in the drawer. y

Further, the invention aims to do vaway with and provide a distinct improvement over the locking or latching means which is usually provided at the rear side ofthe compressor, and which not only takes up considerable spa-ce andprevents theuseof the full lengthof the drawer, but is frequently inaccessible when the compressor is arranged near the rear wall of the drawer.

The invention aims to overcome these aobjections by providing along the sides of the drawer and of the compressor, very effective guiding and locking means, which being marized as consisting in certain novel details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts described in the specification and set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a drawer removed from a cabinet or casing and provided with my improved compressor; Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view l through the drawer and through the lcasing.

for the latter, parts broken away; Fig; 3 1s a horizontal detail sectional view through a portion of the compressor and a portion of the drawer; Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the same; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the supporting brackets or shoes for the compressor.y

In the drawings, I have shown a cabinet consisting of asingle drawer unit comprislnga case or casing 10 and a drawer 11 which is adapted tobe moved into and out of the compartment of the casing, both the casing and the drawer being in this case formed of sheetmetal.

cable equally well to a cabinet or unit with any number ofv drawers. Although any suitable drawer suspension may be employed with my present improvements in the compressor, in Fig. 2 I have shown'a portion of the drawer suspension which is illustrated in and forms the subjectmatter of my parent application .above referred to,

and to which reference may be had fora more complete disclosure of the suspension than is necessary to be here given. lThis suspension which 'is of the roller-bearing extension-slide type is located between the side walls of the drawer and they side walls It willv be under 'stood of course that my invention is appliof the casing, and in brief, thesuspension includes rollers 12 supported on the side walls of the casing, rollers 13 supported onthe side walls of the drawer and arrangedv above the rollers 12, extension slides 14 which engage the rollers 12 and 13 and, rails 15 secured to the side walls of the casing above the rollers 13.

he drawer is provided with a transform of brackets 17 ,and the Adrawer is provided along its sides and preferably along its top edges with longitudinally extending guideways 18 which receive the outer ends of the brackets, and 'in which the latterare adapted to slide. Preferably these :guideways areintegral with the side walls of the drawer and are in the form of lateral extensions each including an outwardly bent horizontal base 18, an upright portion 18b which is adjacent the corresponding side wall of the casing, and anv inwardly bent horizontal flan e v18c which is parallel to the base 18a. n the base or lower flange 18a of each of the guideways are a series of equally spaced openings 18d arranged substantially the length of the guideway.

Preferably, the compressor brackets 17 are substantially L-shaped` each including a portion 17a which projectsv laterally beyond the vertical side edge of the compressor and a -forwardly projecting portion 1'?b which is inthe form of a shoe and is adapted to move lengthwise in the channel or guideway formed by one of said extensions 18. Furthermore, each of the brackets is provided with a pair of downwardly extending lugs 1 7c which are adapted to enter into the openings 18d of the corresponding lguidewayl The spacing of these lugs lengthwise of the shoe is such that when one enters one opening the `other enters another opening. vThe distance between the upper and lower horizontal flanges 18a and 18c of the guideways is slightly greater than the distance between the upper and lower edges `of the shoes of the brackets,the difference in heights being such that.the compressor may be lifted so as to cause the lugs to clear the openings 18d. The compressor may then be shifted lengthwise of the drawer, the shoes sliding freely in the guideways. On the other hand, if the compressor is released or lowered at any part of the drawer, the lugs will drop into the openings and securely lock the com-4 pressor in that position. The length of the shoes 171 is such that when the compressor is moved backward or forward, there is no tendency for it to bind. Furthermore, because of the length of the shoes and the small clearance between the shoes and the v top flanges of the guides, the compressor is held against any material swinging movement about the shoes as an axis.

-Not only can the compressor be moved very yeasily lengthwise of the drawer, but it can be very easily and quickly released for movement, and as quickly locked or fastened against movement in its'adjusted position, regardless of the position that it occupies in the drawer, and furthermore, the compressor can be placedy substantially flush with the rear or end wall of the drawer and practically the entire length of the drawer can be utilized, if so desired. A. further pointV to be noted is that I am enabled to employ the construction and to obtain the advantages above mentioned, withoutdecreasing the effective width of the drawer or increasing the width of the casing over maaar/e that which would be otherwise required, for the feason that these guideways formed by the lateral extensions on the sides of the drawer project into the spaces which are provided for the drawer suspension.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1.*In a filing cabinet, a drawerv having guideways along its sides, a compressor arranged transversely of the drawer, and provided with laterally projecting rigidly attached combined supports and guides engaging insaid guideways and movable along the same, said guideways and supports having coperating means for holding the compressor in any adjusted position including openings in one part and means rigid with the other part adapted to enter the openings.

2..In a filing cabinet, a drawer having guideways along its sides, an adjustable compressor arranged transversely of the 'drawer and provided with rigid laterally projecting supports provided with shoes engaging in and extending lengthwise of the guideways and movable along the same, the guideways each having a series of, spaced openings and the shoes having fixed projecting means adapted to enter said openings to hold the compressor in adjusted positions. v

3. In a ile cabinet, a drawer having guideways along its sides, each provided with a series of spaced openings, a compressor arranged in the drawer and adjustable lengthwise of the same, said compressor having laterally projectingyrigid supports provided with guide shoes engaging in said guideways, each shoe having two' projections which are spaced apart lengthwise of the guideway and are adapted to engage in said openings of the guideway to hold the compressor in adjusted positions.

4. In a file cabinet, a drawer, a compressor` in saidy drawer, guideways arranged along the sides of the drawer, supports projecting laterally from the compressor into the guideways, said guideways and supports having parts which are adapted to interlock,

and said guideways permitting said supports to 4have a limited vertical movement so that when the compressor is lifted until the interlockingparts clear each other, the

compressor may be moved freely lengthwise compressor is lifted, said projections may clear the openings and permit the compressor and supports to be moved freely yalong the guideways.

6. A drawer for file cabinets having along the sides thereof outwardly projecting guideways, each provided in the base thereof with a series of spaced openings, a compressor arranged in said drawer and provided at the ends with shoes located in the guideways and provided with projections adapted to enter the openings when the shoes rest on the guideways, and said guideways permitting a limited upward movement of the shoes so that the compressor may be lifted until the projections are clear of the openings and may then be moved lengthwise of the drawer.

7. A drawer for le cabinets provided along the sides thereof with lateral eXtensions each including an outwardly bent base portion, an upwardly extending side -portion and an inwardly bent top portion, a compressor in said drawer having on the sides thereof brackets provided at the ends with shoes which extend in said guideways` lengthwise thereof, each. of said shoes having at points spaced lengthwise of the shoe lugs which are adapted to engage in two of the openings of the corresponding guideway when the shoe rests on the base thereof, and

the height of the guideways from the base to the top flange being sufficiently greater than the height of the shoes 'to permit the compressor to be lifted so that the lugs are I free of said openings.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

' ARTHURMARTIN. Witnesses:

A. R. SULLIVAN, A. F. Kwis. 

